Gudsen has today officially announced the Moza AirCross 3 – an update to its popular Moza AirCross 2 gimbal for small DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. Gudsen describes the AirCross 3 as “four gimbals in one” combining the classic single handle approach along with sling mode, dual-handle mode and a grip extension for use with devices like the Slypod Pro.
It inherits a number of features from the AirCross 2, though. It’s still a fairly small lightweight gimbal that you can easily slip into a backpack and it allows you to mount the camera in vertical mode for you social media shooters using the supplied quick release L plate.
The Moza AirCross 2 (which we saw at IBC 2019) was already a very good gimbal for small mirrorless cameras, and one of my favourites to use with my little Panasonic G80s (G85 in the USA) when I want to travel as light as possible or as a b-roll camera gimbal. The foldable transforming design of the new AirCross 3, though, makes it even more versatile than its predecessor, to offer more shooting options.
The four different modes the AirCross 3 includes are Classic mode, the standard one-handed gimbal design that’s always been a favourite and the only mode in which you could use the AirCross 2. There’s sling mode, made popular by a number of gimbals over the last few years. Dual Handle Mode allows you to keep two hands on the gimbal for greater stability. Finally, there’s the Grip Extension mode, which is primarily designed for Slypod Pro users (review here), but moves the handle out of the weight, providing another tripod thread closer to the pan motor for an overall lower centre of gravity.
Folded down, the AirCross 3 is the size of an A4 sheet of paper, Gudsen says. For our American readers, that’s fairly similar to your standard 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper. It offers a maximum payload of 2.8kg while weighing only 1.5kg itself, so while it’s not a super heavy duty gimbal, it can hold some decent loads. It’s certainly more than enough for most small mirrorless cameras (or even a Pocket 4K) with a reasonable lens.
As mentioned above, the Moza AirCross 3 works with the Slypod Pro, but if you’re coming from the AirCross 2, not all features may be available immediately on release. Gudsen has assured DIYP that those Slypod features will be coming to the AirCross 3, but it will require a firmware update in the future. Gudsen usually does pretty well with firmware updates, though, and their smartphone app is more stable than any of its competitors in my experience.
The AirCross 3 includes the new Moza Spark Power Supply System 3.0, which provides a runtime of a whopping 19 hours of use on a single charge. It can also be charged with an external USB power bank for when you’re going to be filming away from power for a few days or for timelapse shooters who want to keep the gimbal going all day and night long.
And last but not least, there’s another new addition to the AirCross 3 over the AirCross 2. It’s an extra accessory, the Moza Intelligent Brick, and it looks pretty awesome. Gesture control. And apparently, it doesn’t need camera or smartphone communication to do it as it has a 1-megapixel built-in camera with body and facial recognition for tracking and gesture control to start and stop recording. Separating that functionality from the camera is a fantastic step in gimbal tech!
The Moza AirCross 3 basic package is available to buy now for $469. The AirCross 3 Professional Kit is available for $649 and includes everything that the basic package does along with the iFocus M and the iFocus wireless follow focus controller. There’s also an AirCross 3 Master Kit for $729 that includes everything in the Pro Kit, along with the Moza Intelligent Brick for tracking and gesture control.
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